Gibson ES-335 Block Inlay Electric Guitar, Antique Tea Burst

The ES-335 electrified the guitar globe in the late ’50s and speedily became a beloved axe for all designs of music. The reissue faithfully recreates the original physique style of the ES-335, combining it with a slim-taper 1960-style neck. The ES-335 characteristics a maple physique and a mahogany neck with pearloid block inlays. Add vintage-toned Burstbucker Pro humbuckers, and you have a guitar that is each a spectacular instrument and a piece of music history. There are couple of other guitars that match the ES-335 for sheer star energy.Chuck Berry, B.B. King, and other formative players in the evolving early days of rock and electric blues had already immortalized the Gibson ES-335 when the company’s engineers fine-tuned the guitar in 1963. Today’s Custom Shop ES-335 Block Inlay Reissue model reflects those original refinements, which improve the guitar’s playability and beauty.

A great number of music legends have immortalized Gibson’s ES-335.

Two ’57 Traditional humbucking pickups and stopbar tailpiece.

Headstock with rich holly veneer and vintage tulip style tuners.

Background The acceptance of the ES-335 was already secure and continued to develop, but in1963 when the 1st generation of the revamped ES-335s left Gibson’s Kalamazoo factory sales peaked. That year the dots on the fingerboard of the common ES-335 inaugurated in 1958 were replaced with the block inlays that give this Custom Shop model its name. They offered less complicated visibility in live playing circumstances, where lighting is typically much less than perfect, and an further touch of eye-catching class. The other refinement to the ’63 was the use of the tapered, thinner-profile neck prevalent to Gibson’s built in the ’60s.

Near-best Recreation The ES-335 Block Inlay guitars created by Gibson’s Custom Shop in Memphis nowadays benefit from the exacting standards of contemporary guitar creating engineering, resulting in a a lot more constant instrument than these that originally rolled off the assembly line. And just before every completed guitar leaves the Custom Shop floor it is examined and adjusted by one of the company’s state-of-the-art Pleck machines, so it leaves set up for maximum playability.

To recreate a vintage appear, the plain maple top rated, back, and rims of the ES-335 Block Inlay come finished in antique red or antique teaburst. Like the Fat Neck model, it has a lightweight maple centerblock to offer its traditional semi-hollowbody resonant and tonal characteristics. In contrast to the all-maple 1963 ES-335 Block reissue model, the ES-335 Block Inlay has a 3-ply maple/poplar/maple physique construction. There is single-ply cream binding on the best and back and a five-ply ’63 style lengthy pickguard. The hardware is nickel, with an ABR bridge and stop tailpiece.

The ES-355 Block Inlay models’ neck is a single-piece mahogany shaped to a 1963 slim taper profile that is 24-inch scale length and 1 11/16th-inches wide at the nut. The guitar has a 22-fret rosewood fingerboard with pearloid modest block inlays and single-ply cream binding. The tuners are vintage tulip shaped, handsomely complimenting the headstock.

As opposed to the Custom Shop 1963 ES-335 Block reissue, which has a pair of Gibson ’57 Traditional humbuckers, the ES-335 Block Inlay comes with Burstbucker Pro 1 and two pickups. They are controlled by two volume pots, two tone pots, and a 3-way selector switch. And these guitars leave the factory strung with Gibson Brite Wire .010 strings inside a black levant situation, to improve their historic feel and presence.

Nitrocellulose Finish Applying a nitrocellulose finish to any Gibson guitar is a single of the most labor-intensive components of the guitar-making approach. A properly applied nitro finish demands comprehensive man hours, a number of evenly applied coats, and an exorbitant amount of drying time. But this reality has never ever swayed Gibson into changing this time-tested strategy, employed ever since the very first Gibson guitar was swathed with lacquer back in 1894. Why? For starters, a nitro finish dries to a significantly thinner coat than a polyurethane finish, which signifies there is much less interference with the natural vibration of the instrument, allowing for a purer tone. A nitro finish is also a softer finish, which makes it easily repairable. You can touch up a scratch or ding on a nitro finish, but you can not do the identical on a poly finish. In addition, a nitro finish is quite porous in nature, and truly gets thinner over time. It does not “seal” wood in an airtight shell–as a poly finish does–and enables the wood to breathe and age appropriately.

All VOS (Vintage Original Spec) series guitars will use a proprietary approach that consists of special steps for staining, wet-sanding, and hand-rubbing subsequently the guitars reflect what a well-cared for 40-year-old guitar looks like. The outcome is a impressive patina that will delight even the most discriminating enthusiast.

I’ve had my ES-335 for 15 years now, bought a new one in 1996, and it has not let me down once during all that time. It is a trusted friend, a confidante, and often an advisor. It’s truly my guitar consigliere. There’s a common misconception that its tone is only good for jazz and blues – total nonsense. This thing can get gnarly, street-fight with the best of them. The thing is, man, it’s versatile. It can dial up some true raunch, and then in its next breath burn as clear and bright as the stars. Color don’t matter, get whichever one you like. Plug in into a tube amp, perhaps a vintage fender, and visit places you’ve only imagined…